Lifelines
by Lady-Deathfire
Summary: Losing friends is never easy, and sometimes you find hope in the oddest places. Takes place after the episode Sunday.


I do not own Stargate Atlantis, otherwise this would have been in an episode.

OoOoOoO

Rodney McKay glanced around the room that had once belonged to his friend Carson Beckett. The good doctor was gone now. Killed by an exploding tumor of all things. _It shouldn't have been like that...I should have gone fishing with him... _Rodney thought sadly.

Carson had touched everyone around the base. Whether they were hurt and he saved their life or they just wanted someone to talk to someone who had a unique and optimistic way of looking at things, Carson was always there. No matter what...

"What's that?" he asked himself as he spotted something blue behind the bed. He pulled it out and realized it was a thin photo album, barely filled. He opened the first page and saw Carson's familiar untidy scrawl form an introduction.

"I started this as just a whim and maybe so I could look back on this whole thing later. I don't regret taking any of these pictures, even though if some people knew about them they would probably hunt me down. If I'm not the one looking at this album then I beg you please don't tell anyone you found it. It's rather embarrassing."

Rodney turned the page to show an image of Ford. The young Lieutenant was fast asleep on his bed clutching what looked to be a stuffed animal. More of Carson's writing shown beneath the picture. "Took this after their first mission. The boy was in sorry shape and almost fell asleep as soon as he got back. Don't think anyone knew that one of his personal items was a Bear." Rodney looked at the opposite page to see a picture of himself asleep mouth wide open in a chair holding an empty cup of coffee in one hand. "Rodney had a rough night. Don't tell him I have this though."

Rodney turned the page and saw something he never thought he would see. All of SGA-6 was standing on a make-shift stage singing. Several natives had their hands over their ears.

"Apparently the natives were very good at making alcohol. This was the first reported incident of a society being exposed to Karaoke. I hear it's a part of the religion now." Rodney chuckled as he remembered the teams' hangover the next day and looked at the next page.

On it was a picture of Sheppard asleep under a tree. It seemed normal enough until you noticed the large red bird on his head. "This may be the only reason we established trade with that world. Apparently the bird was the village leaders pet and, as you can see, it took a liking to Sheppard."

Rodney smiled again and flipped a few more pages, noting the pictures of Cadman attempting to teach Miko how to swim; Radek reading from a book of fairy tales to five Athosian children, of whom only one little girl was paying attention, the other four having fallen asleep; Caldwell attempting to build a house of cards; Sheppard and Lorne in what looked like a village, attempting to teach the natives how to dance.

Carson was in the next picture at what looked like a farm, and he held a puppy in his hands. There was a look of delighted surprised on his face which was in reaction to the animal relieving itself on him.

"Cadman took this one. Lets just say the little guy adopted me," the caption beneath read.

Rodney lightly touched the picture of his friend, and then turned the page over. He was met with a close-up shot of Sheppard. While he didn't seem to be doing anything in particular, what attracted his attention was the look on his face. Gone was the casual smile and the usually happy expression he often wore, replaced instead with a look of hard determination that was reflected in ice-cold eyes.

"This was just before he and a few others went out to back up a patrol team that had come under fire from a group of Genii, leaving a couple of people injured. Lorne was one of them. That bit of news probably caused him to snap, because I heard later that he'd shot down a few of them before they even knew who or what had hit them," read the caption. Its neighboring picture was equally disturbing. It was a close-up shot of Ronon, his eyes seemed to hold fire as he calmly looked at his blood-stained hand.

"Same fight," was the caption. "The blood wasn't his though."

He flipped the page over, and then grinned. Sitting on a couch was Teyla and Ronon. Teyla was watching _Xena_ with an amused expression while Ronon glanced though a _Conan the Barbarian_ comic book. "Their first mass exposure to Earth popular culture, all thanks to Rodney."

The next was a picture of Lorne in a seemingly empty lounge, late at night, a game console in his hands and an intent look on his face as he focused on the screen before him. Rodney turned the page again to reveal Cadman crying as she watched _Revenge of the Sith_. "Apparently she really liked some of the characters." The opposite picture was one of Elizabeth sleeping in the infirmary, a data-pad resting lightly in her lap. "What can I say? Nothing stops her when it comes to work."

Rodney reached to turn the next page put this was the last one. One the back though was a quick note. "Took me awhile to get all of these but it was fun. I'm probably going to order a new album via Dedalus the next time they're here, but in the meantime, I've got a date with a space trout."

Rodney felt something hit his hand. He looked down and saw a gleaming tear. _I didn't even notice..._He wiped the tears away, hoping he hadn't gotten any on the photos. He got up, still clutching the one thing that, in the few moment that he had looked at it, had become a lifeline for him. _I've got to show this to the others._


End file.
